2018 Finalists – Senior Group

#301 Alishba Irfan

Alishba Irfan is a Grade 10 student at Fraser Heights Secondary. As a fierce debater, MUN go-er, business case competitor, and public speaker, she is very excited to present her speech for you today. Alishba got involved in public speaking in Grade 9 when she won her school’s speech championships. Ever since then, she has been on a radically exciting journey full of competitive tournaments and conference opportunities. In her spare time, she likes to cook, bake, and catch up on some reading. She hopes that everyone enjoys her speech and has a great evening.

#302 Netanya Castillo

Netanya Castillo was raised in an immigrant family. In her free time, she sings and plays music on the flute, piano, ukulele, and violin. Her other hobbies include baking tiered cakes, cooking, painting, scrapbooking, and graphic design. When she's not studying, Netanya volunteers in her community and is active in her local Christian church. Her love for public speaking started in a Toastmasters club at her high school, which took her in as a shy, mumbling girl and trained her to be a confident speaker. She'd like to thank everyone that helped her get to where she is today.

#303 Sahba Sabour

Sahba is studying in Grade 10 in University Hill Secondary School. She comes from a multicultural and multilingual family and has lived in 8 different cities in her 15 years of life. Sahba is an artist and a social activist. Her dream is to improve society and bring freedom and justice to all human beings. Sahba loves pineapples on her pizza and her favourite TV shows are Black-ish and Friends. She has been attending theatre since Grade 1 and has several performances this year. In her free time, Sahba plays basketball and soccer.

#304 Naichen Zhao

Naichen Zhao is a junior hailing from Richmond Christian Secondary School. Although his major focus is in the field of STEM, he is nonetheless excited to be participating in this public speaking competition. Naichen can usually be found solving complex physics problems, complaining about Autodesk fusion, burning motor controllers, or sleeping later than what is considered healthy. He is looking forward to gaining valuable experience through this opportunity to compete, and wishes all participants luck in the upcoming contest.

#305 Kristen Chen

Kristen Chen is a student at RE Mountain Secondary who is baffled by the power of one’s voice, thus actively participating in competitive debate, public speaker, Model United Nations, and Business Case Competitions. Seeing stigma and discrimination in her own community, Kristen Chen believes it was time to use her own voice and take affirmative action. Kristen, in her free time, is a photography hobbyist. She reads books that challenge her perspective of the world and enjoys walks accompanied by music. Her goal is to become an entrepreneur, but she sees that her lifelong goal is to inspire others to be a better them.

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